The Crystal Fox
by Mannimarco
Summary: When the dimension starts to fall apart, people who were never meant to meet will do so. Events will take place that were never meant to happen. People that were never meant to die will. Destiny is being rewritten by a dark hand - can Naruto stop it? Under construction, criticism of any kind is strongly appreciated! Rating is for graphic violence and language.


**[A/N: Greetings readers. I've been pondering creating an unusual crossover to create something... epic, for lack of a better adjective. This right here is a Naruto x Dark Souls crossover. Inspired by my imagination to do so, prepare to see a very, very different Naruto. Also, if you don't like graphic violence I suggest you leave. **

**Enjoy. Constructive criticism is loved.**

_**I own nothing.**_**]**

"No stop, please! D-"

A boy lay tormented in his place of slumber. Tosses, turns, groans, nothing could have stopped the boy's mind from presenting inexplicable horrors in the form of nightmares.

_Ring around the rosie. _

A sickening crunch was heard, clawed hands invaded a poor soul's torso and ripped his heart out.

_Pocket full of posies._

Where was that voice coming from?

"Please, I beg you! Don't-"

Another head rolled down at his feet.

_Ashes, ashes, we all fall __**down**_.

He roared in pleasure, and didn't know why. He had no idea what was going on around him, only that it felt like things were growing out of his spine. Tails? No, boys don't have tails. He was being silly. Why was that person bleeding? Why did that little girl have no head anymore?

_Ring around the rosie._

"It's not enough! More! **More! **_**More!**_"

_What do you suppose we- _

His surroundings suddenly shifted. He was somewhere dark, somewhere cold. Stone bricks lined the walls and floors, and everything was dimmed save for the candles that littered the walls.

"The dimensional rift is ready, my lord. We are ready to depart."

_-can do to fight the darkness-_

"Excellent. Be sure that our red-eyed friend feels welcome."

_-in which we __**drown**_?

"Please, please don't kill me, I have children! I don't want to be undead! _**Please-"**_

_Ring around the rosie. _

The flesh on a woman's back was charred. Her screams echoed throughout the dark halls as her flesh started to decay right before the blonde boys eyes. A black mist slowly came out of her mouth and into the robed hands of a man. Why couldn't anyone see him standing there watching it all unfold?

_This evil thing, it knows me. _

The girl's singing voice in his head was starting to scare him. He didn't see any girl. He only heard her monotonous voice that sounded like a record about to break towards the end of her verses. He noticed that the woman screaming earlier was now very wrinkly, and was on the stone floor gasping for air. The robed man's right hand then seemingly spontaneously combusted, and soon after he grabbed the woman's forehead and burned her 'alive'.

_Lost ones around me._

Suddenly, the robed man finally turned to face the boy who thought he was invisible. He cocked his robed head a little to his right, and started to walk towards him as the woman's body faded into white particles, and disappeared.

The last thing Naruto remembered was mouthing these last words, along with the singing voice in his head:

_I can't fall down._

**\**

Pants and gasps could be heard coupled with the melody of birds chirping in the apartment of the glorious and awesome, Uzumaki Naruto.

"What the heck was that..." the boy, Naruto, muttered to himself, still panting. "What a freaky nightmare."

He didn't want to move, but he remembered that there was something important he had to do today. Too shook from the nightmare to even remember, he forced himself out of bed and over to his refrigerator to eat what he ate every morning – ramen.

Not bothering to change just yet, Naruto sported his frog sleeping cap and his white with green vertical stripes pajamas around his home. He looked outside his single window as he ate and saw that it was almost noon, due to the sun closing in on the middle of the sky.

Naruto loved ramen. Whether it was frozen, cold, warm, hot, or scorching, he would devour it at any opportunity he could. It was cheap, and delicious – how could you go wrong with that?

He always looked forward to coming back to his shoddy apartment after a long day and enjoying a nice, big bowl of ramen.

Speaking of looking forward to things...

Today was the sparring day at the academy.

The short and scrawny blonde nine year old that was Naruto was outfitted in his signature orange jumpsuit and goggles in a matter of minutes. Hurriedly rushing out the door, the boy made a beeline to his village's Ninja Academy, where people (normally kids) went in order to learn the basics of being a shinobi.

People shot malicious glares, and turned around to whisper their dark gossip, but at this point the tiny blonde boy didn't care. Some days it got to him – he didn't know why people gave him such dirty looks. However, he was going to be a ninja! He would get people to respect him then!

The academy was in sight in a matter of no time at all, thanks to Naruto's haste. The blonde plastered a look of determination and seriousness on his face to damn the bliss and excitement he was feeling to the back of his mind. '_Shinobi never reveal emotions,_' the blonde thought to himself.

However, a very tall, lanky figure, seemingly walked out of the brush from nowhere and onto Naruto's path. The mysterious man must've been at least six feet tall, and had spiky, sky-blue hair along with a dazzling white cloak that covered his body from the neck down.

However, what made Naruto stop was not the man's height, or the alluring sapphire-colored blindfold the man wore. Something about it seemed off-putting, as if the this man was someone who held a lot of secrets and knew a lot of things, despite appearing twenty years old or so.

No, it was the man's intimidating smile when his blind gaze spotted Naruto's figure, that had come to a halt. Along with that, the man carried on his back a bright white staff that, as you neared the tip of it, was covered in bright blue crystals, which peaked at the top. It looked beautiful and dangerous at the same time – Naruto admired that.

"I'm sorry," the man's light, pleasant voice spoke, his crazed grin fading the moment Naruto spotted it. "Am I in your way, little one?"

Naruto felt a sort of uneasiness. The air around him seemed thick, and chilly while he was in this man's presence. Even though he was no sensory-type shinobi, hell, he wasn't even a shinobi (yet) at all, but he could tell that this man radiated power.

"U-uh, no sir. U-um, I'm Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto stammered, however quickly regaining his composure to make a good impression on someone who showed him such kindness compared to the common villagers that passed him by. "I'm on my way to become a Genin! A real, kickass shinobi! I'm gonna be Hokage someday!"

"Ah," the man replied. "Hokage eh? Kage-level shinobi are very powerful individuals. Some wouldn't even be able to call them," the man lightly chuckled to himself, "_human._"

"So where are you from, mister? By the looks of it, you're not from around here. You're not giving me an annoying stare like the villagers here!"

The man began chuckling lightly to himself again. "If I told you, you wouldn't believe me," the enigma replied. "Oh! How rude of me, I never introduced myself. You may call me... Seath, Naruto-kun."

Seath's voice was something incredibly pleasant to Naruto's ears, as if this man had come from heaven itself. It held no ill-intent from what the blonde could tell, which was simply a delight for the boy.

"Tell me, Naruto-kun; you desire to become the Hokage, correct?" The boy nodded energetically, happy to be engaged in conversation with such a pleasant person. "Do you know what that requires?"

Naruto pondered to himself for a moment. "You gotta be strong and a good leader! Even though most of the villagers hate me for some reason, I'll make them respect me as the Hokage!" the blonde said finally, looking quite happy with himself for being able to share his dream with somebody nice for a change.

"Indeed. Power... such an alluring thing, Naruto-kun. Tell you what – I happen to be a pretty talented," the man giggled to himself again, "_shinobi_. If you graduate, I _could_ be your private instructor. I can feel potential emanating from you, Naruto! I'm sure you'll make a fine shinobi one day. I wish to guide you on that path. Do you accept?"

Naruto couldn't believe it. This was the golden opportunity he was waiting for! The man was obviously being modest about his skills- something told Naruto that this man was someone powerful. He could definitely get strong now!

"I accept, Seath-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed almost immediately. "I'll see ya after I graduate!"

The blonde wannabe-shinobi then darted off towards the academy with new-found confidence.

_How interesting,_ Seath mused to himself. _The container of the Ninth Beast Demon as my apprentice... Well, it is high time I've gotten myself a right-hand after being here for fifty years. I'll need him to be if my suspicions are true... _

Suddenly, the wind started to dash passed Seath, majestically whipping through his hair. Leaves swirled in three positions around him in a triangle formation, which soon gave form to three ANBU shinobi, with identical porcelain bird masks that were decorated with red beaks.

"Intruder, you are to report to the Hokage's Tower at once, or we are ordered to kill you if met with resistance," the middle ANBU officer said, giving away her gender with her voice. She was the shortest of the three.

Seath merely smiled pleasantly. "No need to be so hostile, my dear!" Seath said, relaxed. "I will come without a fight, I mean no harm to you or this village."

**/ **

"Who are you, where are you from, and _why_ did you approach Naruto-san in such a manner?"

The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, was stern and straight to the point as Seath and his three ANBU escorts appeared in his office out of thin air.

"My my, so direct, Hokage-sama!" Seath said in his regular relaxed and carefree tone. "Tell me, before I answer those questions, how long do you think I've been in your village for?"

Hiruzen narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "I have only noticed you today."

Seath smirked, but not maliciously. "Indeed. I have actually been in your village for _thirteen years_, Hokage-sama. Studying your people's culture, ideas, architecture, customs, everything. I have noticed your people's animosity towards a single, blond-haired academy student named Naruto, yes, so I approached the boy to give him some sunlight in the darkened storm you and your people have tossed him in. I know what he is," Seath explained. "Where I am from is none of your concern, but I can assure you I am not a shinobi, nor am I from any of the Five Great Nations, since I am sure that's what you were worried about."

The Third looked dumbfounded. This individual had escaped his sight for thirteen years, or maybe even more, whichever it was he did not know for sure. However, that meant that with the nonchalance Seath displayed with being captured told him that he _wanted _to be caught. He also knew that Naruto was the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi.

"Do you think I am a fool, Seath?" Hiruzen asked, narrowing his eyes even more, puffing smoke out of his pipe. The image was quite intimidating coupled with his kage robes and hat. "I can sense that you are a powerful individual, to say you are not a shinobi is foolhardy. I can _feel_ the power emanating from your chakra signature, and from that strange weapon you have on your back. Now, I'll ask you again-" the ANBU poised their tanto blades at Seath's throat- "_What_ do you want with Naruto?"

Seath smiled once more, as crystals the same variant as the ones on his staff protruded from the faces of the ANBU that threatened him with their weapons. The sickening noise of gore was so loud and sudden, the Hokage didn't move from his seat as he watched his ANBU bleed out on the floor.

"I'm afraid I am not one who appreciates being threatened by such toys, it is quite rude. I thought you were more hospitable than this, Hokage-sama," Seath said with a sigh, his grin fading. "I want to train Naruto-kun. He has amazing potential beyond the likes your non-caring eyes could see, and not just because of the Kyuubi that is sealed within him. You have abandoned the boy, after his own father sacrificed himself for the village and wanted him to be a _hero._ He is abused, neglected, and lonely."

The Third had a look of astonishment on his face – how did he know that the Yondaime, Minato Namikaze, was Naruto's father? That was an S-Rank secret! He also just completely annihilated three of his elite guard with such ease and speed, he acted as if he just swatted flies! He, Hiruzen Sarutobi, known as the God of Shinobi, didn't even have time to react!

He truly must have been getting old.

"Look, I'll play along with your sick little secret game, _for now_, if you let me train Naruto-kun, Hokage-sama. Hell, make me a Jounin and I'll even train two more of your own when the boy graduates, just to prove I mean no harm! I did not want to resort to hostilities, I hope you know. However along with my kindness, I also desire some degree of... _respect," _Seath finished, reverting his voice back to it's calm, angelic tone.

Hiruzen sat back in his chair, in deep thought. This was a very dangerous individual, yet also one who is willing to put forth his services for the village in exchange for being able to train with the boy. Such abilities Seath had exhibited would be very useful, of that Hiruzen had no doubt. However, what did Seath truly want? He was hiding something, and the Third will try his hardest to find out.

"I will allow this, on some conditions," the Sandaime started. "You will not harm any Konoha ninja, and you will answer to me and only me. Next, I want you to tell me what you just did to my ANBU that I could not even react to, and give me the gist of what you can do. Lastly, how did you come across S-Rank Secrets? If you are aware of all I expect you to know, than you must also know that someone was behind the Kyuubi attack twelve years ago. If you know who that is, you will tell me. If you do not, then you will aid me in finding the answer. Do you understand these conditions?"

Seath couldn't help but grin – the old man was not as much as an imbecile as he thought!

"I understand completely, Hokage-sama! Although I agree that someone was behind the Kyuubi attack, I do not know whom. He was very elusive." the blind Seath said, almost sounding giddy. "I give you my word that I will not harm anyone of or allied to this beautiful village of yours. One of my abilities, Hokage sama, is that I can create life with power I generate from my very soul. I have been studying Ninjutsu for the passed fifty years as well, I know many techniques and have a vast reserve of Chakra."

The impaled ANBU then started to twitch and fidget, moving despite having bled out and being completely gored by a mass of crystals right through their facial features. Each one of them stood up, then got down on one knee towards Seath, as if awaiting orders from him.

"What I did to these young ones, was simply an order given to my microscopic re-creations of a creature that took me many years in perfecting; the Moonlight Butterfly. I simply had three of them fly into each of these ANBU shinobi's respective bodies, and attach themselves to their brains. I can control their bodies after death this way. They thrive off of my power, thus having a fraction of what their bigger cousins can do. The true Moonlight Butterflies may act and thrive independently with a larger fraction of my powers, but still follow my orders, for I am their God. Would you like to see one? I can create them at a whim, although they are quite large so I suggest doing so outside later at night. They are not hostile unless provoked, and feed off of moonlight, so it would not harm the ecosystem or anyone for that matter unless I or someone I give a certain necklace too, orders them otherwise. Obviously, they are nocturnal, so no one out in broad daylight will see one. They prefer dense-forest areas or another certain habitat only I can create, anyway.

"Yes, yes, I will give you one of these necklaces, before you ask. However, only you and Naruto-kun will have one. However, I will only give you one once Naruto is mature enough to take on the responsibility of being a shinobi. This is an extension of my good will," Seath finished, done talking about 'the gist' of his abilities. "Oh yeah, I'm blind, if you haven't deduced that much already."

The Hokage was indeed fascinated, yet not ignorant to the fact that Seath did not tell him everything he could do. He obviously could manipulate crystals at a whim, since it were obvious enough Seath did not bother to explain that. The man did not seem to bear any ill-will towards the village, either.

Hiruzen was also very good at reading people, especially the ones who plastered fake facial expressions on their faces to get what they desired. Being a politician as well as a shinobi, it was a skill he had to learn as much as he could.

"You claim you're blind, but yet still acknowledge your surroundings. How do you do that?"

"Simple, Hokage-sama," Seath grinned once more. "I can see souls, and have a very acute sense of hearing and smell due to my lack of a sense. I am also, however, what you people call a sensory-type shinobi. I can sense Chakra signatures within a, say, two mile radius?"

Hiruzen became wide-eyed at this. The only man to have ever possessed such an inherent sensory ability was his sensei and Shodaime Hokage; Senju Hashirama."Intriguing indeed, Seath-san. You are to report back here this evening after the academy classes end. Then we will fetch Naruto-kun and discuss the training procedures best for him."

With that, Seath, and his new crystallized servants (that were still kneeling), disappeared. It was not a Shunshin **[1] **technique, however, as Hiruzen noticed. They just seemed to... fade out of existence.

The Third Hokage leaned back in his chair, and sighed something only a world-weary man could release.

He really needed to retire.

_Why did you have to die, Minato?_

**/**

Naruto charged through his classroom's door just as the bell rung. He was just in time! If he were late, his asshole of a teacher would've definitely scolded him.

The asshole in question sighed at his arrival. "Take your seat, Naruto." he drawled.

"Yeah, yeah, Iruka-sensei," the blonde replied.

He walked up to the top row seats, and sat all the way to the right where the window was, next to Nara Shikamaru.

The boy was quiet, and napped throughout most of the class, but he was incredibly smart. His advice is what made Naruto so able to ignore the glares he got throughout the village.

The advice was so simple too.

"Why care?" the lazy genius would say. "The best revenge is success, no matter how much of a drag the process of getting that success is. Show them that their petty bullshit is beneath you, Naruto-san."

He'd show them all, definitely, the blonde thought. Especially with his cool new teacher! He wondered if the sky blue crystals on his future sensei's staff were tasty. They looked sugary.

"Alright class!" Umino Iruka shouted, grabbing his students' attention. "You all know what today is. It is time to assess how far each of you have come. Now I want each of you to line up in front of myself and Mizuki-san and attempt perform the Transformation Technique. You can transform into either one of us."

Some students groaned, others excitedly got up and lined up at the floor in front of where the student desk platforms were placed.

"Haruno Sakura," Iruka said with a tone of authority. "You're first."

The girl in question gulped. She had very long, pink hair, and wore a red one-piece kunoichi torso, along with denim short shorts.

"Henge no Jutsu!" **[2]** she shouted performing the handseal required for the technique. As a cloud of smoke erupted from the technique, out came the perfectly transformed Haruno Sakura as Umino Iruka.

Her practice had finally paid off. She didn't think she'd do it correctly, but she did! That forehead protector was within her grasp at the end of the year, and maybe she could impress Sasuke-kun!

Speaking of the devil, and he shall appear. "Uchiha Sasuke, you're up next." Iruka drawled. He already knew what to expect from the number-one in the class.

Without muttering a word, or even performing a handsign, Sasuke transformed into Iruka with little to no effort at all. Receiving a nod from the sensei in question, Sasuke reverted back to his true appearance and walked off in silence back to his seat. This seemed to be a queue for young teenage girl squeaking, to the dismay of the irritated males in the classroom.

Naruto frowned. What made him so special? _Ooh, look at me, I can transform without handseals_! _Screw you, Sasuke_, the blonde thought.

A groan came from Iruka as said teacher facepalmed. "Next, Uzumaki Naruto."

"Hell yeah! Watch and be amazed, people!" Naruto shouted from his spot in line. The blonde proceeded to then strut along infront of Iruka and Mizuki, and put both his hands together to form the Ram handseal. Spreading chakra throughout his whole body, the expected cloud of smoke appeared. Everyone started to giggle, expecting some sort of idiotic prank.

However, out of the smoke came a successfully transformed Naruto, complete with every physical detail of Umino Iruka, along with a smug smirk.

"Oh yeah! In your faces!" Naruto screeched as he reverted back to his regular appearance. He stuck his tongue out at his fellow classmates as he returned to his seat on the top level of the classroom.

Satisfied with a job well done, he put his head on his desk to stare out the window.

"Inuzuka Kiba, step forward."

He felt sleepy all of a sudden. Hadn't he just woken up a couple hours ago?

He didn't know exactly, and he didn't care. All Naruto felt was the need to go to sleep.

Something weird was going on, and he knew it as he drifted off into slumber.

**/**

_Devour to survive. So it has been, so it always will be. _

Naruto awoke in what appeared to be a dimly lit, gloomy hallway. It was really fancy, with large windows welcoming the moon's light, the stone brick floor of a castle, and pillars that protruded knightly figures on a stone platform at the middle of each of them. It seemed endless from the right to the left, and Naruto could see two figures in front of him. A dark robed man, with a hood that obscured his face – the young shinobi was sure this was the person from his dream the night before. He wielded what appeared to be a pitch black curved sword in his right hand that had spikes and black shells on the blade and hilt respectively.

The other looked extremely strange. Instead of legs, the figure had a bunch of snakes supporting his upper torso. The figure also wore a light blue garment decorated with golden jewelry. The strangest part of all, however, was the mask it wore. It appeared to be made out of gold, and had seven spikes dotted all around the edge of the mask, mocking the appearance of the sun and its rays. The two figures were at least twenty feet away from eachother.

"Fool! You dare betray the Darkmoon Covenant and trample on my father's tomb? Has the Darksign finally taken your sanity, Tenebris?"

The robed figure, Tenebris according to the strange one, merely laughed.

"Do you still think yourself a deity, Gwyndolin? Such a pity..."

Suddenly Tenebris dashed toward Gwyndolin at an amazing speed Naruto's eyes could not follow, and slashed. As he swung his blade, fire came to life around it, surprising Gwyndolin as his robes were singed even though he dodged the blade itself.

"I sense the corruption of Izalith in that blade. What have you been doing behind my back?"

More laughter. That eerie, baritone laughter.

"I've collected all of the lord soul fragments, Gwndolin. I have mastered the arts of long lost techniques, forbidden and forgotten. I have done quite a lot, while still faithfully carrying out your wishes of slaughtering those you deemed 'sinners', and happily taking their _Humanity_..." Tenebris said, holding his left hand up, giving birth to a small flame that seemed like it should have been on top of a candle.

"You are no deity, Gwyndolin. You are trapped and confused by a blindfold you've willingly put over your mind's eye, just like the rest of your family. After I'm through with you, I'm going to put your father out of his insufferable misery and usher forth a new age! An age in which I will become a _**god**_!"

The fire in Tenebris' hand expanded until it took the form of a whip. Gwyndolin easily dodged multiple assaults from the materialized fire, and teleported farther down the hallway. Naruto assumed that he was invisible again, so he ran after the scene on what felt like instinct and curiosity mixed together to watch the dangerous fight unfold.

Then, Naruto felt a presence weigh down on him that felt similar to Seath's as a gigantic, teal ball manifested itself infront of Gwyndolin, and was fired off after Tenebris.

Tenebris chuckeld to himself and sliced the technique in half with ease. He jumped up on to the side of the wall and ran toward Gwyndolin, performed a somersault and attempted to slice Gwyndolin in half with gravity as his momentum. The snake-legged lord smoothly slithered away to behind Tenebris quickly, and fired multiple arrows out of his sleeve into Tenebris' spine.

"Foolish weakling! How could you expect a different outcome besides your own doom? I, Gwyndolin, will execute you for your cri-"

Naruto's eyes widened as Gwyndolin's victory speech was rudely interrupted by a blood-gurgling noise that made him sick to his stomach. The apparently 'dead' Tenebris melted into tiny black sprites (Naruto guessed it was some variant of the Bunshin no Jutsu **[3]**) that faded out of existence, while the real one was holding his fiery blade through Gwyndolin's chest.

Tenebris twisted his blade, and kicked Gwyndolin off of it.

"H-how?" Was all Gwyndolin could say, blood rapidly flooding from his mouth and his chest wound as he tried to get up.

"Bare witness to the one true god, the Dark Lord. Your precious First Flame will be extinguished, and an age will come to pass where I will rule over all things. I have realized my true destiny, and have forsaken the path of lies and deceit you and that ugly serpent Frampt tried to hammer into my head.

"Now, begone, pretender."

The same black sprites Naruto saw the 'clone' dissolve into then poured out of Tenebris' back, only this time they had a set of blank white eyes and mouths. They expanded, becoming bigger and bigger, resembling pitch dark flames with faces. They shot after the wounded Gwyndolin and grew teeth in the process. They devoured him whole, ripped him limb from limb and tore his mask off him, throwing it to the side. They were even devouring his _face_.

Until there was nothing left of Gwyndolin, the sprites stopped in there feast and flew towards Tenebris and seemed to disappear in his heart.

There was his eerie laugh, and a pain-induced scream that rang deafeningly in Naruto's eardrums, and Naruto passed out once more.

/

"Naruto? Naruto, get up immediately!"

Naruto shot up from his desk and slammed his head on the wall behind him, tiredly muttering after a well-timed 'ow'.

"The Hokage requested your presence, right now. Get up and go see him." Iruka scolded. _At least he __was actually asleep and not as rambunctious today_, he thought.

With a grumpy glare at his sensei, Naruto got up and slowly walked out of the door, down the hallway and out in the fresh air.

The sky was orange, signalling that it was the evening. How long had he been out?

He casually strolled down the streets of Konoha and tried to ignore all the happy families that passed him by. How could such innocent people, just trying to put food on the table for their loved ones, give him such hate-filled glares?

Naruto kept reminding himself of Shikamaru's words. _Prove them wrong. Make them respect you._

Soon enough he was at the Hokage's big red tower. It looked more like a dome than a tower if anything.

An ANBU at the gate nodded to the boy and proceeded to walk him up to the Hokage's office.

And the scene he saw in there, made him grin ear to ear. His life was going to change forever.

**[A/N: So there is the first chapter. I hope you guys liked it, please give me ANY sort of criticism. Insult me, call me a fucking idiot, I don't care. Just let me know how I can improve and any reviews are appreciated. Thank you!]**


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